Guinea It has struggled with domestic political uncertainty for decades. The West African country last witnessed a coup d’état last November, in which military leaders took over the leadership of the provincial governors. The current regime has a strong national policy on raw materials, and while analysts say the government’s military demands have not yet posed a major obstacle to the mining sector, the reality is that the world will be in deep trouble if there is a spike in reports. aluminum prices They also enter the supply chain.
Guinea is the second largest producer of the minerals used in the production of aluminum, bauxite and It has an estimated 7.4 billion tons of the world’s largest stockpile. China, for example, imports about half of its demand from the poor African country for raw materials essential for both the auto and food industries, and bauxite exports to Asian countries are now at an all-time high, surpassing last month. 6 million tons.
According to the World Bank, Guinea’s mining sector, which includes gold and diamonds, is a major component of the national economy, accounting for 15 percent of GDP and about 80 percent of exports. In this context, Guinea now appears to be more aware of the value of its resources and is seeking a more equitable share of the profits from international mining activities.
Colonel Mamadi Dumboya, the country’s current president, says the country’s revenue is below expectations despite the boom in the bauxite sector, so they are now trying to squeeze more state revenue from foreign mining companies with stricter rules and demands. In his latest statement, the country’s current military force commander gave international companies time until the end of May to submit proposals and a timetable for building bauxite refineries so that all the raw materials used in the manufacturing process can be produced locally. Currently, there is only one alumina refinery operating in the country with advertisement The new military regime has made clear its position in favor of a national resource policy, with the aim of enabling Guinea to generate greater revenue from its valuable mineral resources.
Experts have so far identified a lack of basic infrastructure and endemic corruption as major obstacles to growth, but it will become increasingly important for international mining companies to spend on rail, road and port infrastructure in parallel with building alumina refineries.
With a population of 13 million, the country has about a quarter of the world’s bauxite deposit, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), of which domestic and foreign companies produced 82 million tons of bauxite last year. With this quantity produced, it was surpassed only by Australia, which has the second largest stock in the world before Vietnam and Brazil.
China has about seven times less bauxite reserves than Guinea.
Experts say the current political situation is unlikely to have lasting effects beyond potential fluctuations in supplies in the short term, and the local leadership has repeatedly stressed that bauxite production is of paramount importance to the country. Guinea will comply with all its international obligations and mining agreements and its maritime borders will remain open for export activities.”– He said Last year, Mamadi Domboya, the French Foreign Legion that took military command at the time, became a colonel.
However, analysts say there is a risk that the future Guinean government will have to renegotiate contracts or possibly expropriate foreign-owned mining assets, which would be a very unfortunate turnaround, as the global crisis will put a huge strain on the production chain. You will seriously feel it.